Wisconsin Is Trying to Take Away the Right to a Weekend

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus
I think this is the thin edge of the wedge. In the Uk they bought this in a while ago and what happens is as people are desperate for money they volunteer but after a few months the employer changes the parameters.
It goes like this. Being as you are working every day of the week it means that the week-end is no longer special to you so why should we pay you double time or triple time. Saturdays and Sundays are just normal days now so I only have to pay you single time.
Then the question arises which days do you have off (as no man can work 7 days, 52 weeks) this leaves it open for the employer to decide when you have off.
People don't understand why people had the week-end off. Part of it was for workers to recharge their batteries but the overall reason was that a worker would have the same time off as his or her partner and could plan ahead for time together.

originally posted by: crayzeed
In the Uk they bought this in a while ago and what happens is as people are desperate for money they volunteer but after a few months the employer changes the parameters.

The Federal Government determined what constitutes the weekend and who is eligible for overtime, state law cannot circumvent that.

Then the question arises which days do you have off (as no man can work 7 days, 52 weeks) this leaves it open for the employer to decide when you have off.

When I first bought my restaurant I worked over a year straight without one day off.

a reply to: crayzeed

Not really. The traditional "day of rest" has its roots in several religions. When along came the industrial revolution, factory owners (specifically, Henry Ford) realized that a) Christians wanting Sunday's off and Jews wanting Saturday's off was going to be a pain in the ass and b) if his workers never had any days off, they'd never see the need or desire to buy a Ford and go do something on their non day of religious rest off, so he gave them two days off. One for religious reasons and one so his people would have time to go do something, and decide they needed a car to do it.

The idea that weekend's came about so employees could spend time with their partner is absurd, given that at the time of the industrial revolution many homes were single income. Throw in the ridiculous levels of child labor and you can throw "industry cared about family time" right out the window


Also, countless numbers of people don't have weekends off as it is. Service industry, public safety, hospitality, and on and on all have weird days off and weird shift times. Employers already decide what your days off are.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: ScientificRailgun
Then again, I also believe in something called common human decency so I doubt even if this were to pass, that employers would use this "voluntary" form to "voluntell" someone to work weekends.

You should come work for me and experience my common human decency. Mandatory breaks with the boss involving Bourbon, costumes and shackles.

originally posted by: ScientificRailgun

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: ScientificRailgun
Then again, I also believe in something called common human decency so I doubt even if this were to pass, that employers would use this "voluntary" form to "voluntell" someone to work weekends.

You should come work for me and experience my common human decency. Mandatory breaks with the boss involving Bourbon, costumes and shackles.

Well played, good madam. Well played.

Lol now there's two of them, synchronized perfectly Ahhh that made me lol

originally posted by: tothetenthpower
a reply to: ugmold

From what I'm reading all this does is give the employee the right to work 7 days a week if they so choose?

I don't see where employers can force anybody to work a 7 day week without their express consent. Or am I reading that wrong?

~Tenth

c'mon....employers force people to work when they do not want to all the time...they don't have to use a whip, or threaten violence, it's a lot more subtle than that...you would know, if you had some time in the saddle of hourly workers, or even lower/middle management.

you republicans vote for a**holes like this, and I hope they work you and/or members of your families every day of the year,

a reply to: jimmyx

Before I retired I owned by own set of businesses. And I actually paid everybody 44hrs a week when they at most worked 40 cause I was a good employer who paid a living wage, not a minimum wage.

5 Weeks paid vacation, 1 full year maternity for both mother and father, proper bonuses and a 5% wage increase every year, regardless of performance, up to 20% if you were making me money.

Some employers, maybe most are scum, not all of them are.

~Tenth

originally posted by: jimmyx
you republicans vote for a**holes like this, and I hope they work you and/or members of your families every day of the year,

Lulz. Yea, he's such a *dirty name* what with his giving people a choice to work or not work.

Dirty dirty republicans with their giving people choices in employment!

originally posted by: ugmold

originally posted by: tothetenthpower
a reply to: NavyDoc

I'm no fan of Scott Walker don't get me wrong, but it seems like people are just making a mountain out of a mole hill with this.

There's plenty of other things to be upset about in that budget like the open record laws and shielding politicians from the media.

~Tenth

I agree. Problem is, it will become the norm, and no sign-up for it, no hire, no job. Funny (not) how these things morph into something bad.

Sorry that is the slippery slope angle which you shouldn't use.
There have been plenty of times I would and have done this out of my own choice and need for some money.
What I want to see in CA is a law that says a company can't call working 12 days in a row 6 and 6 because the pay period restarts inbetween

I've worked 7 days a week, 12 hours a day for months doing industrial construction. Good money because of the overtime...

The thing is, we probably didn't get more done in 12 hours than we would have in 8. We somehow just unconsciously spread the work out over 12 hours instead of 8. In some jobs like the oil industry this isn't all bad ... it slows you down and accidents are less prone to happening. So there are upsides.

And no, that was NOT a union job. Non-union industrial construction. 7 12's.

Americans are going to have to figure out how to make money in a global economy. The the 2nd and 3rd world countries around the globe are willing to work for a fraction of the cost of a US worker. We're not going to be making anything inside the USA for the foreseeable future.

There simply aren't enough highly-skilled jobs for everyone. There can only be so many engineers, doctors, lawyers, biologists, ect ... What the hell are the rest of the masses supposed to do to earn money? There will be no manufacturing jobs anymore, and any labor will be picked up by immigrants workers.

We have a HUGE challange ahead of us in the United States. Eventually automation will replace migrant workers. Robots will harvest all the oranges and crops...robots will pour concrete and dig ditches. Computer programs and AI's will automate phone centers and clerical jobs...

We're in for a rough ride if the current trend continues with the current population. I hate to say it, but mankind is overdue for a population correction, we've cheated nature for a very long time. I have a feeling we're going to pay dearly for skirting the natural laws of population control.

a reply to: jimmyx

Lol, when I worked for IDOT we would have to work winters with no days off if the snow was falling they couldn't make us work more then 12 hour shifts but there have been many seasons we had to work 20-30 days straight and it was under a democrat governor.

a reply to: thesaneone

Yea but a republican was in office somewhere so it was obvious his or her fault.

That's how it works, duh.

a reply to: Shamrock6

The best part is it was under blogovich and he made it mandatory that all state employees had to take and pass an ethics test every year????? Apparently he forgot to take the test.

a reply to: thesaneone

You all got Rochambeaued.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Yup and they are still sore.

a reply to: thesaneone

He probably exempted himself, much like Congress does.

Perks of the job and such.

originally posted by: tothetenthpower
a reply to: ugmold
From what I'm reading all this does is give the employee the right to work 7 days a week if they so choose?
I don't see where employers can force anybody to work a 7 day week without their express consent. Or am I reading that wrong?~Tenth

Easy...employer says you work this extra shift or you're fired. Do you know how tough it is to take an employer to court for labour code violations? And what do you do for money in the meanwhile? We all know that there are a lot of unscrupulous employers out there...which is why there are unions!

a reply to: AutumnWitch657

Not the same ... it doesn't state 'weekend' or Saturday/Sunday -it states 'rest days' which means you could work 7 days a week, every week, all year.

My sisters both work retail/service jobs and always boo-hoo that they have to "always" work. Except for during the daylight hours during the week., if they even work M-Thurs at all. It just sucks for them that when most people with career-type 9-5 jobs are having fun & relaxing away from work they are the ones cutting our hair, or serving us food or ringing us up at the store.

People working in retail have rest days same as anyone. Difference is that retail work has slow times (traditional business hours, 9-5 M-F) when it is pointless to have a full staff working, so you get to come in at 10pm or whatever...maybe not even work on Tuesdays and Thursdays...whatever. They have to work when the majority of $$$ earners are away from their jobs, spending that $$$

Point is that retail workers get their 'rest days' same as most everyone...unless they have to work a second job because the other job doesn't pay enough to live on.

a reply to: RedParrotHead

Even during slow daytime hours the store has to be covered. I worked retail for 23 years. I had to schedule people to cover at all hours plus closers who needed to balance cash registers and taking into account the wants and needs of the people it was quite a balancing act. Everyone had to have two days off though usually not two in a row and be scheduled for less than a forty hour week to avoid overtime if there were any issues at closing that kept us late. Most of the time I worked the evening and closing hours. We kept a full staff including housekeeping, sales and admin for every hour the store was opened. There was no down time or slow time.